You couldnt make him up. Oh yes, you can!

And the winner of the Bafta is  Alastair Campbell. In a variety of roles. But why are dramatists crying out to write him, asks Jasper Rees

Next month, the British television industry dolls itself up for the AGM known as the Baftas. The usual awards will be dished out — best this, best that, outstanding achievement in the other. Only, this year, they could have added an extra gong to the traditional roster. And the nominations for best portrayal of Alastair Campbell in a drama or comedy are: Alex Jennings in A Very Social Secretary; Jonathan Cake in The Government Inspector; and Peter Capaldi in The Thick of It.

Tony Blair’s rock, his press spokesman from the moment he became leader of new Labour, may have opted to remove himself from the political stage after the 2001 election, but the stage and, more particularly, the screen have shoved him back into the spotlight. Satirists such as Rory Bremner, Armando Iannucci and Alistair Beaton have all made a mockery, while the dodgy-dossier affair has ushered in the grim-faced